Princeton N.J. – (September 11, 2021) – Day one of the Princeton Invitational had plenty of marquee water polo match-ups, one of which featured the #16 Fordham Rams against the #14 Cal Baptist Lancers. The duel proved to be good one with the Lancers sneaking away with a 13-12 decision.
Fordham opened the match with a 4-3 lead after the first quarter, getting goals from four different players as Dimtris Koukias,
Hans Zdolsek,
Lucas Nieto Jasny, and
Nacho Ariste each found the back of the net.
The Lancers bounced back in the second, grabbing a 6-5 lead, as they held Fordham to just one goal in the period, which came off the arm of Jasny.
Cal Baptist opened up an 11-7 lead after three periods before Fordham mounted a rally in the final period. Trailing 13-9, the Rams scored three goal in a row by
Sebastian Zapatero,
George Papanikolaou, and Ariste to get within one, 13-12, with 34 seconds left. However, the Rams were unable to get the game-tying tally, falling by one.
For Fordham, Zapatero was the top goal scorer with three in the match, while Ariste had two goals and two assists. Jasny, Papanikolaou, and Zdolsek each finished with two goals in the game, while
Jacopo Parrella had three assist and two steals in his first action as a Ram. In net,
Bailey O'Mara finished with seven saves and two steals.
The Rams conclude play at the Princeton Invitational on Sunday with a pair of matches, as they take on St. Francis Brooklyn at 11:45 AM and #12 Princeton at 3:30 PM.
